


Butterfly Effect

by milestofu



Category: MindCrack RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-01
Updated: 2014-03-01
Packaged: 2018-02-09 16:27:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1989789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milestofu/pseuds/milestofu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pause gets carried away and Arkas doesn’t know how to react.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Butterfly Effect

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers up to S14E09 of UHC. Anything mentioned after the events of that episode are purely fictional.
> 
> Originally posted to my Tumblr on 03/01/14.

There’s something about Pause that draws Arkas in. Pause who’s his complete opposite; Pause who’s outspoken, loud, and overly confident. Even so, Arkas can’t help but admire everything about Pause that makes him who he is from afar―or rather, from where he crouches behind Pause as they hide behind a ledge.

"They’re on the mountain top," Pause whispers, grabbing his bow from its sling on his back and looking over his shoulder to reaffirm that Arkas is still behind him. "It’s MC and Nebris."

Arkas nods, his stomach doing somersaults as he watches fixated as Pause shuffles forward, pulling the string back on his bow. Then, he let’s go and the arrow whizzes through the air, connecting with MC’s shoulder.

Pause grins and darts out from behind the ledge, saying, “Come on, Arkas! Let’s go, let’s go!”

Arkas hurriedly rises to his feet, joints cracking as he rushes to follow Pause. He gets a brief glimpse at Pause fighting MC before Nebris commands his attention and he’s forced to swing his sword wildly, managing to get a few good hits off.

However, he’s forced to back off when Nebris’ sword slices through the fabric of his shirt, grazing skin. He flinches, one of his hands instinctively moving to protect his stomach when fear seizes him by the throat. He doesn’t have time for this, he knows, clenching his teeth, but his body won’t move when he’s telling it to and Nebris is advancing on him and―

_mcgamer was slain by PauseUnpause._

Pause whirls around, swinging his sword horizontally and it doesn’t miss Nebris’ side.

_Nebris was slain by PauseUnpause._

Arkas stares at Pause, whose breathing is a little labored, and when their eyes meet, Pause grins like he did earlier. Arkas swallows thickly, the adrenaline rush beginning to fade along with the trembling of his knees.

Fuck, that was close.

"You did good!" Pause compliments him brightly.

Arkas doesn’t agree, but he smiles anyway and says, “Thanks…”

If Pause noticed his hesitance earlier, he doesn’t mention it. Instead, he turns and begins to haphazardly sift through the items on the ground and just as Arkas moves to do the same, Pause straightens, tossing a golden apple at him.

Arkas catches it out of reflex and Pause says, “Heal up. I heard BTC around here somewhere.”

Arkas does as he’s told and although he won’t admit it out loud, having Pause as his teammate makes him feel safe. If it wasn’t for Pause stepping in when he did, Arkas doesn’t doubt that he would’ve died along with MC and Nebris.

Death isn’t permanent, of course―it’s all a game, after all―but in that moment it felt like it was, and Arkas feels a little guilty for letting it get to his head. He doesn’t allow himself to throw a pity party because it all worked out in the end, and he figures that’s what he should be focusing on instead.

With newfound resolve (and maybe a little too much confidence), he calls out, “Don’t worry, BTC! We’ll be there soon!”

Pause laughs beside him and yeah, it really did work out in the end because the next thing he knows is that they’ve won with a few hearts to spare.

He can’t believe he did it― _they_  did it!

He’s too distracted by his feelings of happiness and disbelief to really register Pause pulling him into a tight hug and kissing him squarely on the lips. It registers later, when the post game gathering has long since wrapped up and they’ve all gone their separate ways, and when it does, his face flushes bright red.

It must register later for Pause, too, because Pause shows up on his doorstep a few days later, looking anxious and apologetic. “Dude, I am  _so_  sorry,” he says before Arkas has the chance to open his mouth. “I don’t know what came over me.”

Arkas smiles out of nervous habit and shakes his head. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it…”

"It was totally out of line, I’m really sorry," Pause continues and he sounds so sincere in his apology that Arkas couldn’t bring himself to be mad even if he wanted to. "It’s just that I was so happy that we won and the adrenaline and―"

"Pause…" Arkas starts.

"―you’re kind of really fucking attractive."

Arkas stares at him and it takes a few moments for Pause to realize what he’s just said. He didn’t really just say that, did he? Oh my god, he did. Suddenly, Pause is very thankful for his dark complexion that helps mask the blood rushing to his cheeks.

Did that count as a confession? Arkas isn’t sure and he finds himself at a loss for words, unsure of what to say, or what to do. Pause’s embarrassment is palpable, so it’s a confession, right?

God, Arkas has always been terrible at reading body language.

He scratches the back of his head and looks down at his feet. “Thanks, I think… You’re not bad either,” he says eventually. He makes a face then, feeling as though he didn’t use the right words to express what he wanted to say.  ”I mean… good looking? Yeah.”

Way to make it more awkward.

Despite the awkwardness, it does seem to lift Pause’s spirits because he chuckles and says, “Don’t worry, I understand.”

"Do you really?" Arkas looks up. "Because… doesn’t that mean we just…?"

"Yeah, I guess it does," Pause says before grinning that all too familiar grin. "Does that mean I get to kiss you again? Not to suggest anything, but I’d totally be down."

Arkas’ eyes widen and he doesn’t have to be good at picking up on social cues to understand the suggestion. Embarrassment colors his cheeks and he looks away again, unable to maintain eye contact because he kind of really sort of wants to take him up on that offer.

"Can I?" Pause asks, leaning forward and when Arkas looks back to him, he can tell by the smile on his face that he’s only asking because formalities.

Arkas rolls his eyes and throws caution to the wind and closes the distance between them, pressing their lips together. He has to stand on his tip toes to do it, but in that moment, he doesn’t particularly care, and neither does Pause.

At the end of the day, that’s all that matters.

It doesn’t stop Arkas from feeling incredibly embarrassed for being so forward, though.


End file.
